Songs for the Book of History

This chapter documents Mapfumo’s shift to creating songs drawing on Zimbabwean traditional music—including mbira—and with lyrics that comment on the situation in the country as the liberation struggle reaches its violent crescendo. Moving from the Mhangura mine to Salisbury (Harare), and, briefly, Mutare, Mapfumo works through a series of bands, ultimately finding real success as singer and principal songwriter for the Acid Band. The chapter deconstructs key songs that established Mapfumo as a major cultural figure—both a pioneer in the rehabilitation of long-stigmatized traditional music and a rare popular artist brave enough to engage the combative politics of this era. In “Pamuromo Chete (It’s Mere Talk),” Mapfumo offers a defiant response to the confident proclamations of President Ian Smith. The chapter ends with the 1978 establishment of the Blacks Unlimited, with legendary guitarist Jonah Sithole at Mapfumo’s side.